Making Distance Less Distant

It took moving to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for me to really realize how BIG this world of ours is.

How distant we really are from the rest of the world.

How SMALL we are.

Sometimes, I actually laugh out loud when I look at a world map and see little ‘ol Hawaii waaaaaaay over there by itself.

Just a tiny pin mark on the globe.

Being a military family, we have friends and family spread all over the world. We’ve had to find ways to make this distance smaller in order to keep these relationships strong. My best friends sent me a picture once which said,

“Distance means so little when you mean so much.”

Isn’t that so true? We need to make connecting with those we care most about a priority. And, when we find ourselves distanced from our loved ones, that’s when I feel it is most necessary to seek out these connections.

The kids and I only get to visit my mom on the mainland once a year. But, we make it a priority to Face-Time her several times a week. Sometimes, we aren’t even talking-but, just “being together.” The webcam is just turned on and she gets to watch them play in their rooms or eat their snack while she reads a magazine or what not. She even gets to “taste” their snack occasionally when they put their treat up to the camera for grandma to make “chomp chomp” sounds.

We also make a point to talk on the phone daily. This allows my kids to still have a close relationship with their grandma-something that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

I feel that, sometimes, it’s easy to take for granted the relationships we have near by and that we can actually have an even stronger relationship with those long-distant. When I lived in the same town as my parents, we rarely saw each other. (Granted I was a college student and had other “priorities” at the time.) But, our relationship has grown so much since I’ve moved away because we HAVE to work for it. It has made me cherish their friendship even more.

When we DO have time together, we know to put the distractions aside and to focus on our time together. To truly live in the moment…because we don’t have very many of these special moments.

As I sit here and type this, I can’t help but think how amazing it is how you, my friends, are reading this from places all over the world! India, Canada, US, Brazil, Cameroon, Australia, Guam, Japan…

We are all so distant from each other. But yet, we are drawn together in this place. Sharing our thoughts and words with one another.